


What Lies Underneath

by 0LaunaAlvara0



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Humor, Surprises, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:33:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0LaunaAlvara0/pseuds/0LaunaAlvara0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, it's what you least expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Lies Underneath

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this prompt on the Cabin Pressure Meme:
> 
> 'Martin's father wanted him to become an electrician. And maybe that's because out of all of his kids Martin was really handy. Like if there was a leaky faucet, or a faulty light that had it's lightbulb changed a million times, Martin was the one who knew just what to do to fix it. And Martin's father couldn't understand why Martin wouldn't want to land a job in something he was good at. So maybe one day the fridge is on the fritz or something's wrong with the plumbing and Carolyn doesn't have the money to hire someone to fix it [and] Martin gets to work. 
> 
> When they see Martin again he has his jacket and hat off with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. His tie is also missing and a few of the top buttons are unbuttoned. And there's just a hint of sweat on Martin's brow and arms and everything about Martin makes quite a sexy picture. And lo and behold! the problem's fixed. Everyone's a little stunned and a little aroused........'

“This really is the last straw, Carolyn.” Douglas frowned as he waved the jar of coffee creamer at her. “It’s not bad enough we have to put up with that industrial strength bulk-buy stimulant you call _coffee_ , but now we have to suffer _this_ too. Where is the milk?”  
  
“I’m not happy about it either, Douglas.” Carolyn scowled back. “But the fridge is broken and we have no money to either fix it, or buy a new one. So unless you find a benefactor who wishes to bestow us with a _gift_ , or you’re feeling generous yourself, fresh milk is off the menu.”  
  
“What’s off the menu?”  
  
They both turned to see Martin enter the Portakabin, shaking the rain from his umbrella before placing it down beside the heater and placing his bag on the floor.  
  
“Decent coffee, _apparently_.” Douglas replied, before pushing his mug away in disgust.  
  
“Well, that’s nothing new.” Martin quipped as he shrugged off his coat and hung it on a peg by the door.  
  
“If you don’t like it, you are more than welcome to bring your own in. I don’t employ you to drink free coffee. You should count yourself lucky you get anything at all.” Carolyn reprimanded them both.

  
“Sorry, Carolyn.” Martin replied contrite.  
  
“Well I, for one, am not drinking _anything_ that has been tainted by the evil known as _coffee creamer_. I’d rather go without.” Douglas huffed before sitting himself down in an easy chair and flipping open a newspaper in a sulk.  
  
“There’s no milk?” Martin looked perplexed.  
  
“No.” Carolyn answered him. “There is no milk, because there is no fridge.”

  
“What’s happened to the fridge?”  
  
“It’s broken.” Douglas stated grumpily without looking up from the newspaper.  
  
“Oh, right.” Martin seemed to consider this for a moment. “Well.....let me take a look.”  
  
“You will not go anywhere near it, Martin.” Carolyn warned him with a finger wagging. “It requires inspection from a proper engineer, not a barely competent pilot. I do not want refrigerant seeping through my office floor.”  
  
Martin looked indignant. “I’m perfectly capable of looking at it, Carolyn.”  
  
“Not unless you have a hitherto undisclosed qualification in refrigerator maintenance you’re not.”  
  
“It’s probably something simple.” Martin wouldn’t be deterred.  
  
“All the more reason not to let you complicate it.” Carolyn shot back.  
  
“It’s already broken. “ Douglas spoke up. “I don’t see how he could make the situation _worse_.”  
  
He couldn’t imagine that Martin would have even the faintest clue how to fix the thing, but it might keep him quiet and away from amending the safety procedures for a while.  
  
“Fine. Fine.” Carolyn held her hands in defeat. “But if I end up having to call the emergency services, on your head be it.”  
  
Martin obviously chose to ignore Carolyn’s barb as he removed his suit jacket and draped it over the nearest chair, before removing his hat and putting it on the table.  
  
“ _Golly_.” Douglas remarked. “It must be serious if the hat is coming off.”  
  
Martin narrowed his eyes at his First Officer, but didn’t bother dignifying him with a response as he rolled his shirt sleeves up and undid his tie, opening the top buttons of his shirt.  
  
Are you looking at the fridge, or doing a strip tease?” Douglas raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Would you be disappointed if it was the first?” Martin shot back quickly.  
  
Douglas was impressed with his wit. “ _Touché_.”  
  
“Can you two just get on with it?” Carolyn sighed. “We have a flight in three hours.”  
  
Martin strode over the fridge, a small half size model, tucked into the corner of the portakabin. “Right then. Let’s see what the problem is.”  
  
As he knelt down beside it, Douglas and Carolyn exchanged a look; Martin wasn’t exactly known for his practical know-how.  
  
Douglas watched in amusement as Martin opened the fridge door and stuck his head inside, inspecting the controls on the inside and fiddling with the thermostat.  
  
“Has that revealed the problem?” Douglas asked sardonically.  
  
“Give me a chance.” Martin huffed, his voice muffled with his head still inside the fridge.  
  
“It’s not the thermostat, idiot.” Carolyn told him with a hint of annoyance. “You think I haven’t already tried that?”  
  
Martin pulled his head back out of the fridge and sat back on his heels. “I wasn’t trying the thermostat. I was looking at the air duct and air return.”  
  
Carolyn gave him a quizzical look, which Martin clearly chose to ignore, carrying on regardless. “They seem to be in working order, so let’s take a look behind.”  
  
Martin flexed his arms in readiness to move the fridge out from the wall and Douglas let out a sigh. This was clearly going to be a job for someone with more strength than his short, scrawny Captain. He made to close the newspaper and stand-up. “I suppose you’ll be wanting me to.....” But before he had time to finish Martin had single-handedly pulled the fridge away from the wall in one swift movement, as if it had been no lighter than a feather.  
  
“No need.” He told Douglas, without bothering to turn around. “Man with a van, remember?”  
  
Douglas had long wondered how Martin survived as a removals man, and now it seemed he had the answer. His stature clearly belied a wiry strength that Douglas hadn’t witnessed before. He couldn’t help but be impressed, not that he would ever confess that to Martin. He was also a little taken aback at the rather pronounced muscles running along Martin’s upper arms, which was something else he would never admit to.  
  
Douglas looked over at Carolyn, standing with her arms folded on the other side of the Portakabin. She was watching Martin like a hawk, probably to ensure that she didn’t end up having to pay compensation for a work based accident. 

 

-oOo-

 

Carolyn couldn’t help but stare, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible while studying her employee’s, not wholly unpleasant, form.  
  
Martin was never ever seen without his suit jacket and Captains hat. It could be 100 degrees in the shade, but the jacket and hat would remain firmly in place. Carolyn often assumed it was a kind of armour for the young man, a costume to hide behind. In all the time she had known Martin she had only really seen him in his ‘civvys' once or twice, and even that consisted of some tired old ill-fitting jeans and a jumper that was at least two sizes too big.  
  
The sight of Martin flexing his muscles whilst moving the fridge was distracting to say the least. His shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal some rather well formed and clearly strong biceps, his shirt buttons undone showing just a hint of bare chest on what appeared to be a rather toned torso.  
  
Carolyn forced herself to look away, reminding herself how completely inappropriate it was to be ogling her employee, a man young enough to be her son.  
  
And more to the point, Martin was a complete _berk_ ; strong muscled arms and a shapely behind were quite beside the point.  
  
Not for the first time in her life, Carolyn was relieved that mind reading didn’t exist.

  
  
-oOo-

  
  
Douglas watched as Martin laid down on the floor behind the fridge and removed the panel at the bottom to inspect it further. As he stretched to reach the inner most workings Douglas couldn’t help but gape at Martin’s prone form.  
  
Well, well. Martin as _quite_ the dark horse, wasn’t he?  
  
With his shirt stretched over his torso it was clear that the man was far from the skinny wretch Douglas had always thought he was. While it was true that they’d shared many a hotel room over the years, Douglas had never seen his Commanding Officer in any state of undress. Something he’d always been thankful for, if he was honest. Martin always got changed in the bathroom and seemed to favour pyjamas that almost drowned him and made his already short stature all the more obvious.  
  
This, this, was not the Martin he was used to seeing. _At all_.  
  
As Martin continued to reach into the fridge, his shirt got tighter around him and the muscles in his arms were all the more obvious. He wasn’t scrawny, Douglas noted with interest. In fact, Douglas could see, through the stretched white of his shirt, that Martin sported what looked suspiciously like a washboard stomach. He looked down at his own, slightly podgy (if he was honest) form and felt a pang of jealousy. When he looked back over at Martin he felt something else entirely, something a little bit _unexpected_.  
  
“Ah ha!” Martin exclaimed suddenly, sitting up. “The thermostat tube is blocked. I’ll have it fixed in a jiffy!”  
  
He held up a piece of black tubing as he pushed himself to his feet and bounded over to the sink. Douglas watched him agog, not only at the fact that Martin, 'inept landed-with-the-brakes-on Martin' seemed to have found the root of the problem, but also by what he now looked like.  
  
Dishevelled. Yes, that was _definitely_   the word.  
  
His normally impeccably groomed and slicked back to-within-an-inch-of-its-life hair was completely messed up; unruly reddish curls sticking up everywhere. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, arms and at the V-shape where his shirt was undone at the front, smudges of dust and dirt across right across it. A look of dogged determination fell across his face as he unblocked the tubing over the sink, standing half in profile to where Douglas was seated. His shirt clung to him, revealing his trim waist and his bare arms exposed lean muscle.  
  
Douglas had never ever considered himself to be anything but a red-blooded heterosexual male with a preference for blondes, but even he had to admit to himself that Martin looked.....well......downright _attractive_ at this moment.  
  
Douglas shook his head, closing his eyes. This wasn’t right, this wasn’t right _at all_. 

-oOo-

  
 _Oh dear God._  
  
Carolyn sat down heavily at her desk as she watched Martin examining a piece of tubing. She was quite unable to tear her gaze away from the man standing over the sink, who was not even remotely related to the hopeless imbecile she employed to Captain her plane. She was sure of that.  
  
She stared quite openly as Martin, seemingly satisfied with his handiwork, strolled back over to the fridge and crouched down beside it again. As he did so, she could clearly make out the strong muscles in his calves and thighs. His mussed up hair had softened his facial features, drawing the eye towards his, now Carolyn thought about it, rather well formed lips and dazzing blue eyes.  
  
“ _This_ was the problem.” He told no one in particular, holding up the piece of tubing “If this get’s blocked the thermostat won’t work correctly and the fridge will malfunction.”  
  
Carolyn was lost for words; her dry sardonic wit having abandoned her in the face of an apparently capable and rather attractive looking Martin.  
Those were not words that she ever imagined would be going around her head.  
  
Not in a _million_ years.  
  
-oOo-

  
Martin fixed the tube back in place and slotted the back cover on the fridge, before standing up and pushing it firmly back into place. He plugged it in and flipped the switch. The fridge immediately started to make a familiar noise. “Ah ha!” He exclaimed, pleased with his own efforts.  
  
He stuck his hands on his hips and spun around to face back to Carolyn and Douglas, who had been suspiciously, but thankfully, quiet for the past half an hour.  
  
“There you go.” He stated with a grin. “All fixed. It wasn’t really that....comp....li...ca.....ted......” His words dropped away as he realised that both Carolyn and Douglas were staring at him in a decidedly odd manner.  
  
Martin started to feel incredibly self-conscious all off a sudden. The strangely silent gaze of his First Officer and CEO making him feel uncomfortable. “What?” He asked a little nervously. “What did I do?”  
  
At that moment the door burst open and Arthur bounded into the portakabin, apparently completely unaware of the peculiar atmosphere that seemed to have materialised inside. “Morning chaps!” He spoke cheerily. “What a lovely.....Oh wow!” His gaze fell on Martin. “Skip! You look.....you look.....”  
  
Martin looked down at himself, realising with a start what a mess he must look; how completely unprofessional. That certainly explained the judging glare of Douglas and Carolyn. He hastily started in roll his sleeves down and tried to dust the dirt off his shirt. “Oh, I....um....”  
  
“....brilliant!” Arthur finished his sentence at last.  
  
Martin looked up at him again, completely befuddled. “ _Huh_?”  
  
“Yeah.” Arthur carried on, giving him a curious look. “Like one of those blokes in the Diet Coke ads.”  
  
He heard both Douglas and Carolyn mumble something under their breaths that sounded suspiciously, and rather weirdly, like assent.  
  
“I-I-I....I don’t.....” Martin looked from Arthur to Carolyn to Douglas, seeing the same odd look on each of their faces. He was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable and in need of some air. “I.....I think I left something.....in my van.” He told them quickly before hastily brushing past Arthur and out of the door.

  
-oOo-

 

“Wow.” Arthur broke the silence that had descended following Martin’s hasty exit, looking over at his mum and then back to Douglas.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Quite.”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I know nothing about fixing fridges!


End file.
